Protection plan needs teeth: deputy mayor

INNISFIL — Property owners will alter Lake Simcoe’s shoreline unless “loopholes” in the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan are plugged, Deputy Mayor Dan Davidson says.
“People are cutting trees along the shore and doing it without permits,” Davidson said. “The plan needs more teeth and less loopholes.”
Davidson called for an emergency meeting with the Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority, lakeside municipalities, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of the Environment to find better ways to enforce the rules of the provincial plan.
Davidson told the Journal he was alerted to pitfalls in the plan when some property owners in the prestigious south shore area of Innisfil began altering the shoreline against the principles of the protection plan.
The Lake Simcoe Protection Plan places a number of restrictions on private property owners in effort to maintain a pristine shoreline.
But the penalties for breaking rules in the plan aren’t tough enough, Davidson said.
“To some people it’s the cost of doing business,” he said. “We need more front line workers out there enforcing this.”
If governments don’t act soon other lakeshore property owners will follow the bad examples, Davidson said.
There appears to be some confusion between government agencies over the enforcement of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan, Davidson said. As well, there aren’t enough inspectors to police the rules, which forbid altering shorelines without special permission.
“The conservation authority only has one officer to do this for their entire watershed,” Davidson said.
Town lawyer Jason Reynar called the problem “an ongoing and pressing situation” that requires government agencies to keep their “foot on the gas pedal”.
However, who enforces the rules and how has become an issue as incidents along the Lake Shore arise.
“There appears to be a cloudiness around who has authority and at what stage the enforcement comes into play,” town CAO John Skorobohacz said.
Part of the problem may be hesitation by government agencies to take on the enforcement role because of the cost of pursuing cases in court, Davidson said.